Gods
by SilverKarneval
Summary: "The Guardian has gone missing." In a world where people can control legendary Pokemon, a disturbance in the balance of right and wrong has been breached. When the disappearance of one leads to despair, a plot will be set in action that will leave everyone shattered. Unless, they can glue back the pieces and reaffirm their statuses as heroes. (Pokespe cast, original by MagmaLava)
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! I'm SilverKarneval and I'm here to present a Pokemon Special fan fiction which also involves most of the legendary Pokemon. Plus, there are two "unofficial DexHolders" that will also make appearances, as seen in the later chapters.**

**This idea actually wasn't created by me but MagmaLava, who was the one who originally came up with the idea. I'm just taking what he wrote already and manipulating it into a story! So wish me luck~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, there would be a Dark-type gym leader/elite four member already. Original idea came from MagmaLava ^.^**

**Prologue**

Legendary Pokemon.

They are the creators of our world, the beings that have shaped our existence, and they are mighty beings with power that, left untapped, could bring an end to Earth as we know it. So, it only makes sense that we have a way to tap into that power, to control its flow and to make sure that it doesn't suddenly explode. And, in order to do this, we have people called contractors, contractors that are bound together with legendaries in order to keep balance between the many elements of the Pokemon universe.

But, of course, these contractors can't just be any ordinary people. If such a great task was placed upon an everyday citizen, certainly a single abuse of power would soon lead to world extinction, and that, my friends, would be a scary end. So, to be a contractor, you have to prove yourself pure and worthy of the position, and only if you appeal to the Guardian can you gain the ability to tame these wonderful beasts. Though, many who become contractors only become one out of pure luck and sheer coincidence, bonded to their legendaries only by a play of fate. Though it all depends on who the Guardian finds first, really.

Now, who is the Guardian, you may wonder? Well, I'm afraid, I can only tell you what everyone else knows about them. Guardians are the regulators of our world, and they are the ones who truly keep the balance in check. By assigning contractors to each and every legendary, they insure that the different elements are correctly matched up to the right user, controlled by those who justly fit that element.

For example, you wouldn't match fire with a calm and stoic person, right? Rather, you would trust that element with someone rash and impatient, no? This is why the Guardian is around and, without the Guardian, the legendaries would be matched up to random people who may or may not clash with that Pokemon's element, causing a conflict within the universe that would surely bring an end to our world.

Oh, now you're asking how I know all this? You're asking if I'm a contractor too? I'm afraid not. My name is merely unimportant at this time of being, but keep in mind that I'm merely just a nameless author who happens to know this tale by heart. Though the events happening here happened without any of my knowledge or actual involvement, you'll find that the story I'm about to tell you not only revolves around these contractors, but also their legendaries as well.

Now, I'm going to tell you this right now, but the story I'm about to recount has been passed down from generation to generation. It is unsure of whether it's a myth or the truth, but many strive to believe whatever they may. The heroes of this tale are ones passed on from grandparent to children, from parent to children, and from sibling to sibling. However, very few versions of the true story remain, and that is why I am here; to recount the actual tale.

Come, gather around, and grab a cup of coffee to keep you company. This tale will certainly sweep you off your feet and keep you busy for more than just a day. Trust me, this story is a long one...

**ooo000ooo**

**Annnnd, there you go. The prologue to the Gods story. How was it? Good, bad? Or somewhere in between? I know it's short, but as the chapters go along, they should grow in length. Just wait…there'll be a chapter that's like eight thousand words long (I can see it now…)**

**Anyways, review and tell me what you think of the idea behind the story so far!**

**-SilverKarneval**


	2. A Needed Promise

**I'm back with a new chapter~**

**This one actually takes place in the past first (in the italics) before quickly escalating into the present. And, to be honest, this took me awhile to do, so if it sucks at the end then blame my ever-changing motivation. Seriously, for some strange reason, I can't even write at all unless it's dark outside (sooooo, basically it's 8 P.M. to whatever time I go to bed -which is usually around 11:30 P.M., XD)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, there would be a Pokespe anime already~ Original idea came from MagmaLava.**

**Chapter One - A Needed Promise**

_Red was standing on the edge of Undella Beach, watching as the sapphire blue waves sloshed eagerly over his feet as it rushed back and forth, trying to steal anything that was in its path. Bright beams of sunlight slanted down upon the beach and, in turn, cast a bright shine that almost blinded Red, forcing him to avert his eyes and look at the girl next to him, her smile almost as brilliant as the radiant ocean itself._

_Though it might've looked like the pair knew each other just by a first glance, as they stood side by side, gazing around casually at the beautiful beach, many wouldn't have been able to spot the obvious flaw left unspoken by them. They were not another lovey-dovey couple, nor were they the normal pair of childhood friends sometimes seen wandering around, but mere acquaintances that had been called together by a twisted dream._

_"Red," the girl said in a shaking voice, speaking up for the first time since they had met up with each other on the sandy terrain. "I have something I need to tell you."_

_"Why me?" was his response, as he slid a foot through the wet pieces of broken down rocks, the sand slipping between his toes and coating his foot with the little grains. "I mean, why would you bother calling me all the way over from Saffron City when clearly you could just call someone who was closer nearby, like that one contractor of Giratina? Doesn't she live in a summer villa just a short walk away or somethin'? Besides, it's not like you know me or anything."_

_The girl gave him a small smile. "But I _do_ know you, Red. I've met with you more than I have with the other contractors. You'd be surprised at the fact that, as Guardian, I've really only visited each of the contractors once a year to "renew" their bonds."_

_"But you visit me about three times a year, not one…," Red murmured, carefully backing his foot away as a Crustle scurried past. _

_"Exactly. And that's why I know you more than I know anyone else. You're really not a bad person, Red," she bent down and brushed some sand off of the Crustle as it passed by, and the Pokemon gave her a grateful look, chirping loudly before running off. "For one, you're strong, bold, and loyal to your cause as a contractor. Never once have I seen you abuse Pokemon, nor have I seen you give them anything but kindness. You're an impulsive individual, yes, but even rashness can lead to miracles."_

_He said nothing as she continued to wash her hands in the salty water, her smile soon disappearing and forming into a small frown. Red caught this as he watched her, getting more and more concerned as her silence grew, and he reached down to tap her shoulder with a finger. "So, what do you have to tell me, Guardian?"_

_The Guardian glanced up, abruptly looking startled. "Call me Yellow," she sighed. "You know how much I _hate_ titles."_

_"Sorry, it's natural to me," Red said sheepishly before repeating his question. "What do you need to tell me, Yellow?"_

_The blonde girl raised herself to her feet again, her golden eyes cast worriedly at the different villas that were scattered across the beach. "It's just…I've been having weird dreams lately."_

_"What type of dreams?"_

_"Dreams where everyone-all the contractors-come together and begin a vicious battle based upon illusions. It was so sickening," she shuddered violently, "there was blood everywhere, and people…people were _dying!_ Even you…I've seen your death the most and it…it _scares_ me! Red, I don't want you to die!" Yellow was practically on the edge of tears as she buried her face into her hands, shaking and shivering with distress._

_The black-haired boy stared at her in shock, absorbing the news with bewilderment and disbelief. "I'd never die on you!" he protested, trying to reassure with a couple of pats on her shoulder. "Honestly, I'm not the type who dies easily!"_

_"But you haven't seen my dreams!" Yellow cried out, her hands tightening into fists as see-through drops spilled from her eyes. "They're so horrible. Crystal, Ruby, Pearl, Diamond…t-they all died for what they were fighting for! It wasn't fair! They were just puppets in a game of chess! They had no choice in the matter as to what role they played!"_

_"They're just dreams right? It's not like they're going to come true," Red tried again._

_At this, she glared up at him, looking almost furious. "Red, do you know what power all Guardians gain upon being crowned?"_

_"No…?"_

_"We gain the powers of dream-sight. In other words, we can see the future in our dreams."_

_"S-So, that means…"_

_"Exactly. Now, do you see why…why I'm so upset?"_

_"I do," he frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But, what if those dreams were all fake?"_

_She shook her head. "They can't be. No matter what, every single dream a Guardian has had has come true. After all, it's thanks to the Guardians, really, that we're even alive today. Those that have come before me have always managed to overcome difficult events like the Hoenn meteor shower thanks to dream-sight showing them how, but my dreams haven't shown me at _all_ how to break from this cycle of death," she bit her lip in frustration. "However, there have been records of dream-sight predicting alternate timelines. Timelines that will only happen if we sit back and do nothing. But this means that there could be a possible situation out, and that my idea, in turn, might actually work. Even if it is a pretty impossible plan."_

_The boy stared at her, quietly urging her to go on. Yellow sighed at him and tried to put on a forced smile as she raised her gaze to his red eyes. "I came up with a likely plan a couple of days ago that might fix what I've been seeing, though I can't guarantee its success rate," she took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists. "We must find the contractors and make them promise not to fight each other, to not start a war like the ones in my dreams."_

_"That's it? But haven't you already made them promise not to fight in the 'contract'?" he crossed his arms and scowled, vividly remembering the document used to bond a to-be contractor to their legendary. "I mean, it was practically written in blood. Along with the oath to swear eternal loyalty to protecting the world from harm."_

_"I know, I know, but I have a feeling that that won't stop the war from starting. No, we need to gather _every living contractor_ and then gather them together, forcing them to prevent a fight among themselves before it can even begin. However, I don't even know who our enemies are, so we may all find ourselves trapped in a corner if we can't find out who our targets are. We need to work _fast,_ Red."_

_"Then what should we do?"_

_"I propose we split ways," she answered simply. "I'll try and find our enemies while you gather all the contractors together. It's basic enough, and I'm certain that if you can just unite everyone together peacefully, then we might be able to stop the war. Or not, depending on how we make it. But, in the end, at least one person will_ _die."_

_"You make it sound like it's actually going to happen," Red replied with a frown._

_"Because it _will_," Yellow said in a bitter tone. "Trust me, no one will remain unscathed if the enemy has their way. No matter what, someone always dies."_

_Red felt unable to say anything as the girl turned her back on him, lifting a hand to the sky. Immediately, a pidgeot raced down from the cloudy skies to greet Yellow, its body piercing holes through the white bodies of water droplets. The large bird landed promptly in front of the Guardian, its feet sending up waves of sand that splattered and coated both girl and boy in the creamy grains._

_"It seems my ride is here," Yellow murmured, climbing atop the bird. She turned to Red, staring at him with serious eyes. "Will you gather every contractor together, Red, and bring them all to a designated spot?"_

_He hesitated a bit, unsure of whether he should or should not assist her, but as he realized the full potential of the situation at hand, he nodded his head in understanding. "I will."_

_"Good," the girl held out her hands and produced two scrolls from out of nowhere, much to the astonishment of Red. "Here, catch!"_

_The boy jumped up to grab the two documents just seconds after she had thrown it, temporarily thanking the controller of the winds for not blowing them into the ocean. "Um, thanks and all, but…what are these for?"_

_"It's a list of all the contractors and a map that will lead you to each of them," she responded quietly._

_Red stared at her incredulously before unrolling one of the papers, revealing a long list of names and legendaries. His eyes rapidly skimmed over the names before he unrolled the other one, staring at it unsurely. Glancing up again, his red gaze met Yellow's golden one as he wore a mask of confusion. "I don't understand…how is a blank map supposed to lead me to the contractors?"_

_"It'll take a bit of searching," the girl admitted sheepishly as she ran her fingers through her pidgeot's feathers. "But, when you get close enough to a contractor, an icon will show up in the form of their legendary, revealing their presence. If you're worried about how trustworthy it is, trust me, don't be. It's the same map I use to find any of the contractors so I know that it works. As to where to begin searching, well, you'll see a lot of different locations paired together with different names, right?" Red checked over his list and saw that, indeed, many names were matched with the titles of cities and towns, as well as the name of their legendaries, "that'll be your best guess as to where to start looking for each one as that was where they were last seen."_

_He nodded, sliding the map into his coat pocket while keeping the list out. "Thanks, Yellow, I'll be sure to use these."_

_"You're welcome," she smiled in return, her eyes shining as she turned to her pidgeot, who was beginning to grow impatient, scratching in frustration at the sand below. "It seems that Pidgeot wants to leave now," she sighed. "So, if you have no further questions about your task-"_

_"I don't."_

_"-Then I'll take my leave. May we meet again in a distant, hopefully more peaceful future."_

_"May we meet again in a distant, more peaceful future, Yellow," he echoed softly, watching regretfully as she took to the air without another word. "And let us all hope that your visions are nothing more than that. A dream."_

_He unfolded the document containing the names and read the first one on the list. "Green Oak, contractor of Zapdos, last seen in Pallet Town." _

I guess that's who I should look for first, _he thought, blinking once before activating his telepathy link between him and his legendary. Though any normal person might think it impossible for such a thing to exist, the bond between contractor and Pokemon created a mental connection that led to the ability to communicate through their brains was such a fascinating thing to Red. Even if he was still a newbie to the works of a contractor, having been recruited only five years ago into the ranks of the "legendary heroes" as many liked to call them, the mental link between beast and human was one of unnatural phenomenon. So, as he called upon his legendary, he couldn't help the ecstatic feeling that accompanied his unspoken words. _Moltres, are you there?

_A polite voice answered back quietly. _I'm here. I'm right above you.

_Red glanced up and saw that Moltres's words held true, as the cream bird was circling overhead, flames flickering ominously against the white background of clouds. The legendary bird circled once before falling down to the ground, landing elegantly and creating quite a scene among the tourists who littered the beach. One by one, a crowd formed around the two as they eagerly stared, excited to see a legendary and its contractor together for the first time as it was a rare sight for many to see. _

It seems that I've attracted quite a crowd, _Moltres crowed, looking quite pleased as the people showered it with attention._

But you're not here to gain followers, _Red replied dryly. _You're going to take me to Pallet Town in the Kanto region.

_Moltres looked taken aback. _I have to fly all the way over there? _The bird huffed in surprise. _Well, you contractors sure have your work cut out for you. Here, hop onto my back before the paparazzi arrive.

_Red complied, climbing onto the birds back. Settling himself into position atop the bird, he waved to the crowd, smiled, and then tapped Moltres on the base of the neck, signaling that he wanted to get going. The phoenix, sensing this, took flight into the air and flew straight up into the cover of the clouds, remaining silent until he reached the top of the bodies of water droplets. _So, mind telling me why you're calling me in the middle of a place populated by normal humans? You _know_ we're not supposed to show ourselves in the middle of crowds. It draws too much attention to us.

_"I know that," the boy sighed. "But this is more important."_

You mind explaining this to me?

_"Eh? It's a long stor-"_

_Before the boy could say anything more, he was swept by a wave of sudden depression that made him immediately fall silent. For a couple of heartbeats, he became incredibly disheartened and sad with no reasonable explanation, as if everything in the world he had once known had been taken away from him. "Moltres," he murmured softly. "Are you feeling what I'm feeling?"_

_The phoenix gave a half-hearted reply, as if it, too, were under the strange spell. _Yes, I feel it. And that can only mean one thing…

_What?_

The Guardian has gone missing. In other words, Yellow just disappeared from this planet.

_Even with his weird depression keeping most of his emotions down under an anchor, somehow both shock and panic managed to surge forward and blossom in his chest, creating a mix of feelings that almost sent him reeling off Moltres. "B-But how is that that possible? We just saw her leave a few minutes ago!"_

It's the…ugh, damn depressing feelings…possible reason as to why we're feeling this way, _Moltres sighed. _I once…felt like this too with my last previous contractors and that was when…when the current Guardian died. It gave me a sudden weird sad feeling, like everything me and my other contractor could possibly ever love were just dead. It was the same feeling as this and, I later learned from the last contractor of Raikou, that the Guardian had died from a heart attack.

_"That's horrible," Red unexpectedly slumped forward, his shoulders dropping as another wave of sorrow and despair washed over him. "Ugh, when are these feelings going to go away?"_

It should go away in a minute or so, _Moltres offered helpfully and, no later than three seconds after the bird had spoken, Red felt the sorrowful emotions be wiped away from his being, replaced with a sudden explosion of anxiety as he looked at Moltres._

_"H-Hey, does this mean that Yellow's dead?"_

No, no she's not, _the bird responded. _She's still alive. I can sense her presence. It's faint, but I'm able to detect it somewhere around the world. It would seem that she's here but…in another world.

_Red turned to his legendary, eyes widening. "How can someone be in another world? I mean, I guess I could understand if it's the Distortion World…"_

It's not, _Moltres shook its head, flapping its long wings once before soaring higher and above a patch of thunderclouds. _I could tell if Yellow was in the Distortion World.

_"How do you even tell where Yellow is? Are you part psychic or something?"_

All legendaries are able to locate the girl, if only a little bit. Since we're close to the Guardian as a whole, there _is_ a part of us that can locate the girl if we so choose to search for her. Not that anyone has needed to in awhile.

_"So, wait, if you can sense where she is, then do you think the ones who…took her, were also contractors?"_

It's possible, _the phoenix looked in concern at its contractor. _It wouldn't be an an absurd suggestion after what Yellow told you.

_"You were eavesdropping on us?" the boy scowled, crossing his arms. _

It's kind of hard not to do when your mind is constantly probing mine, _Moltres retorted._ Seriously, you need to learn to better control your telepathy powers.

_Red frowned. "Moltres, we need to find Yellow right now."_

_The bird looked up at him, startled by the suggestion. _But I thought we were going to Pallet Town.

_"That's what Yellow said to do but…now that I know she's gone missing I want to find her!"_

But what if Yellow doesn't want you to follow her? _it asked him. _Maybe she saw this happening to her in her dreams and told you to find the contractors so she wouldn't have to worry about anything. If we go back for her you might as well be spitting in her face.

_Red looked at the bird, troubled by the words. It was certainly true that, if he went after Yellow, he'd be putting her request to shame. Gritting his teeth as he realized he'd have to temporarily put the other contractors in top priority, the boy dipped his head to Moltres reluctantly. "Fine. Let's go to Pallet Town. After we get this whole ordeal over with though, I want to go and find her _immediately._"_

_Moltres chuckled lightly. _Understood, boss.

_The bird swooped back down into the cover of the clouds, flares burning red against the backdrop of white._ To Pallet Town!

_000ooo000_

Green had no idea why the contractor of Moltres would choose to visit _him___of all people, but he assumed he was about to find out soon.

Strolling among the many citizens of Pallet Town, it would be hard for a normal person to tell him apart from the everyday crowd. With his green jacket, black shirt, and dull gray jeans, he didn't seem like some flashy everyday person who might brag about having a legendary at his beck and call. Not like Green was that type of person, anyways. Still, that didn't keep the boy from keeping his shirt cuff over his marking of a lightning bolt; the brand of Zapdos.

Recalling the marking that twisted around his wrist regrettably reminded him of his earlier fit of headaches that he had received just twenty minutes earlier. Wincing as he remembered those odd pangs of depression that had washed throughout him, the boy tugged at his sleeve and unlocked his telepathy, temporarily recalling the Guardian's lessons on talking through his mind as he spoke silently. _Zapdos?_

_Yes?_ A calm voice responded lazily.

_Where are you?_

_At the outskirts of the town,_ Zapdos sighed. _Just like you asked me to. Honestly, do you expect me to act like some stupid brat and wander off into the sight of others?_

_Of course not, _the boy replied icily. _It's just…I feel that something's off. _

A snort from the other side and Green was pretty sure that his legendary couldn't care less about his last words. _Just hurry up with your Arceus damn grocery shopping and I'm sure you'll find that everything is just happy and dandy. Now, come on, get going! I'm sick and tired of sitting here acting like some sort of kiddy statue!_

Green sighed in annoyance. _Sure, whatever. _He raked a hand through his spiky brown hair and continued towards his favorite grocery store; Wiggly's Whole Foods. The building was a sight for sore eyes, and it commanded the attention of everyone in it's vicinity. Compared to the stark white buildings that sat around it, Wiggly's Whole Foods was a store painted bright with many colors, and everything about it practically screamed I'm-not-from-this-town. Instead of sporting the usual dull color scheme of white, gray, and brown, the building bragged a wide range of colors, showing off the lightest of pinks before darkening to the deepest shades of blue. It's mascot, a Wigglytuff, hung amiably by the store's name plate sign, waving to the crowd as cerulean eyes gleamed mischievously, as if it was planning to do something to any unsuspecting person. However, despite it's not-so-plain looks, the store was a favorite among many shoppers, and often the food selection within put other grocery's to shame. Almost everything you could imagine was huddled within that store. Marzipon? It's there. The freshest of the fruits and vegetables? Just right around the bakery. Sweet bean donut? They also have that. Some weird round ball type of food? That's there too.

The boy paused in front of the automatic doors, watching quietly as they slid open as if in greeting, beckoning for him to enter. Taking quick steps into the store, he was met with the normal clamor of the everyday customers, some arguing among themselves while others argued with the store employees, insisting that they were getting ripped off. Green chuckled lightly as he saw a little boy begging to his mom about buying a rainbow lollipop, the child's stubby fingers digging into the woman's dress. _Reminds me of my days with Gramps. _Immediately, a wave of distress came over him. _Well, it did remind me of when Gramps was actually _alive.

Cutting across the store and into the first grocery section of fruits, the boy nonchalantly began to grab apples, bananas, and whatever type of food looked appetizing. He piled the different selections into one cart and rolled around, picking up random items as he began to wander around. Naturally, he ignored the swooning of the many ladies that happened to lay eyes on him, and he passed them by without a word. _It'd be better if they just stay away from me, _Green thought in annoyance as a few hesitant girls approached him, pulling his cart sharply around a corner and into the meat department.

Immediately, he was met with the sight of a black-haired boy grinning sheepishly. Green, reacting upon instinct, swiftly pulled his cart to a halt in time to prevent a collision. "Yo!" the stranger waved to Green, red eyes locking onto emerald ones as he brushed off his jeans.

"Do I know you?" Green asked, eyes narrowing.

"Nah, not really," the boy took a deep breath. "I'm just a fellow contractor, kind of like you!"

Green flinched, swiftly jumping forward to cover the boy's mouth as many passing by customers chatted loudly and in excitement at what they had just heard. Two girls pointed and muttered something darkly, before approaching Green and the boy. "Excuse me, did I hear right?" one of the girls asked, frowning. "Are you really contractors?"

"No, of course not!" Green gave the boy a stern stare, clearly telling him to "keep quiet" as he talked to the pair. "We were just talking about how it seems that no one has seen a contractor in ages yet, and how we'd react if one said that sentence to us…"

The girl's friend tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Mm, it's true that the last time a contractor was sighted was back a year ago, when Blue saved us from a horde of rampaging Arbok. But, since then, it seems that every contractor has become more secretive as a whole. It's a shame, really. If they came out into the open more, they'd practically become instant heroes!"

_Is she trying to tempt me to confess? _Green inwardly scowled and turned to the boy next to him. "Yeah, I guess it's a shame," he said, speaking to the lady but keeping his gaze on the boy in front of him, "but they're probably all anti-social because of hanging around their legendaries too much."

"Ah…that's true," the two girls exchanged disappointed looks and quickly hurried off, not bothering to continue the conversation. Green watched them go, feeling relieved as they turned a corner and disappeared forever out of sight.

Green shifted his gaze and glared coldly at the boy in front of him. "Now, would you mind explaining just _what_, exactly, is going on? Why are you even _mentioning_ being contractors out here? You're just drawing attention to us and, trust me, I want nothing to do with crowds."

"Ah, sorry," the boy rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't know you were anti-social. My name's Red Locke, by the way," he extended a hand to Green, beaming.

"I'm not anti-social," the spiky-haired brunette hissed, eyeing the hand suspiciously. "Now, tell me, what are you doing here?"

Red got to his feet and gestured for the boy to follow him. "Let's talk outside. After all, you don't want others hearing our conversation right, contractor of Zapdos?"

Green nearly did a double-take as he walked after Red, promptly abandoning his grocery cart. "W-What?"

They passed through the doors of the store, turning sharply into a corner and into a dark road filled with nothing but trash cans. A few Rattata scurried about in fear as they entered but no other living being seemed to exist in the area, assuring Green that this was a safe place to talk. The boy turned to Red, looking quite perplexed. "How can you tell I'm a contractor?" he demanded.

Red grinned cockily at Green as he noticed the boy's shocked face. "So you _are_ the contractor of Zapdos. That's a relief."

"And how would you know that? Last time I checked, only the Guardian can tell contractors apart from a normal crowd!"

_But, you forget, _a calm voice chuckled, _that us of the Bird trio have the ability to sense each other. _

"Who said that?" Green snapped in irritation.

_Me. _A large bird with fiery wings landed in front of Green, reddish-brown eyes scanning over the boy with irritation. It turned to Red and huffed. _Honestly, it seems that our Guardian has picked yet _another_ stoic guy for Zapdos. In a way, it's pitiful, I mean, having such an emotionless brat for a contractor._

Green gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the bird's jibe. He turned to Red. "Let me guess. You're the contractor of Moltres?"

"Ding, ding, correct!" Red sang out loudly, before swiftly growing serious, his hands tightening into fists. "And I suggest you call your bird here quickly. I have something I want to discuss, but it wouldn't be right if the contractor didn't have his legendary to protect him."

The spiky-haired boy raised an eyebrow at this. "And why would I do that?"

_Because, _Moltres responded lightly, _we'll be needing Zapdos's service if you agree to help us._

"Hold on," Green stared at the pair in disbelief. "Who says that I'm going to help you with anything?"

Red frowned and glanced up at his legendary. "Moltres, he's not going to listen to anything unless we tell him. Can you talk via telepathy?" he asked. "I don't want to risk anyone else listening into our conversation."

_Certainly. _Moltres shifted its gaze over to Green, eyes growing stone cold as its flames flared brighter than before. _The Guardian has gone missing, and we need your help to stop a forthcoming war between contractors._

And, of course, this is when Zapdos decided to show up.

ooo000ooo

Red knew immediately that, as soon as Zapdos laid eyes upon Moltres and him, was when things were going to become complicated. Currently, the yellow bird was crouched protectively in front of Green, electricity crackling across its skin as it let out what sounded like a battle cry.

_Leave my contractor alone! _the bird snapped in a furious voice, spreading its large wings. _We want nothing to do with your nonsense!_ It was almost strange to Red how he could hear the bird, but he briefly recalled Moltres telling him that each trio had the ability to communicate not only with _their_ legendary but also the other two legendaries of the so-called trios that occupied the Pokemon world. So, he assumed it made sense that since Zapdos was also apart of the bird trio, that Red could hear and understand the bird.

Moltres sighed loudly. _So you won't even _try_ to listen to us? Do you even know what we're going to say?_

Green snorted in disbelief but, before he could even say anything, Zapdos sneered at the group, speaking up first. _It'll probably be some Trubbish about becoming heroes in one of the many towns or cities of all the regions, right?_

"Wrong," Red adjusted his cap and frowned. "It's about something much more important."

_More important than eternal solitude from the outside world? _Zapdos turned its beak up, jolts of electricity flaring from the tips of its head and jumping down all the way to its talons.

"The Guardian has gone missing, in case you haven't already noticed."

At this, Zapdos flinched._T-The Guardian has…? But that can't be!_

_You heard him right, _Red's legendary growled. _Not only that, but she left us on a quest. Your contractor already knows this but…we need all the contractors to come together and swear not to fight each other or start a war between _all _of the contractors._

The electric bird looked at both Moltres and Red in astonishment. _What kind of nonsense is that? Contractors? Fighting? It's unheard of! We already promised not to fight in the contract given to us by the Guardian, so why would we fight now?_

_Ask me why the Guardian disappeared, _the fiery phoenix scowled. _It's because of the enemy, whoever they may be, that she's gone. And, once all the other contractor-less legendaries realize this, guess what's going to happen? A rampage among themselves in search for someone who can control their powers. Not to mention, but the upset in balance can be known for strange things, like the distortion of behavior among individuals. Whoever started this, well, they sure know how to mess with us. I wouldn't be surprised if they were contractors themselves._

Hold on, are you saying that fellow contractors might be plotting against us? Secretly setting up some sort of battle that could very well lead to the end of the world?" Green stared skeptically at the pair, unsure of what to make of their words.

"Kind of," Red admitted with a sheepish grin. "Except, what they might be planning is more than just a battle…but a war between contractors."

"But why?"

"I couldn't tell you," the boy kicked at the concrete ground on the alleyway, ignoring the muffled complaint of a Rattata as it was accidentally hit by a pebble. "All I know is that I have to get every contractor in existence and gather them together in order to make them swear not to fight. But…I can't do it alone, and that's why I need you to help me. It'd certainly be a lot easier for us two to convince others if we worked together."

The spiky-haired boy remained looking dubious, glancing over at his legendary in what seemed to Red as a private telepathy conversation. Though it was clear that Zapdos wanted nothing to do with Red, there was a look of reluctant knowing that shined in it's black eyes that told the boy that there might be hope. He gazed up at Moltres, and the bird returned his look with a worried expression on its face, as if it didn't trust its brother Pokemon to join them.

"May I ask another question?" Green called, crossing his arms.

"Shoot away."

"Why are you doing this? It's not like you _have_ to do it."

"I'm doing it because it was a request from the Guardian herself. She personally asked me to do this just before…well, just before she disappeared. And, as much as I would like to try and find her, I can't go back on my word as a contractor."

_Guardian's pet, _Zapdos sneered, but it was a half-hearted one, as if it didn't really care about the fact that Red was implying that he had a close relationship with Yellow.

"Well, I guess…I'll join you on your quest," Green dipped his head respectfully, still looking a bit troubled.

Red snickered. "That sounds like some line from a cliche adventure movie."

The boy looked up in annoyance. "Shouldn't you be concerned with other things?"

"Ah, yeah, sorry. Okay so," Red pulled out his map and list, handing the things to the boy. "Can you help me locate any of these mentioned names? I'm afraid I don't quite know where everyone is at this point in time."

Green surveyed the list and then faced the black-haired boy. "I know about where some of these people could possibly be, but I can't really confirm anything for sure. All I know is that it'd probably be best if we start with Blue. She _is_ the next contractor in the bird trio, after all."

"Okay! We'll start looking for her tomorrow!"

"Why tomorrow?"

Red's stomach grumbled loudly. "Well, for one, I'm hungry. For two, Moltres is practically worn down from flying all the way over here from Undella Town."

"You flew all the way from Unova to Kanto!?" the other boy exclaimed in disbelief, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"Idiot," he slapped his face. "You should know better than to fly your Pokemon over such an insane amount of distance!"

"Well, I'm sorry for trying to keep the world in balance," he retorted. "Now, what's for dinner?"

ooo000ooo

"Think we should rest here?"

A girl turned to her Pokemon in concern, watching as the icy bird stumbled in flight, breathing heavily. Its wing beats were going on in an irregular pattern, and it was clear to its contractor that they would have to stop soon if they wanted to avoid suddenly crashing into nowhere.

_That would be ideal, _Articuno mumbled, swerving over the city of Blackthorn. _How about we try those mountains?_ The bird cast its crimson gaze over to the snowy mountain tops, seeming relieved at the prospect of being cold. It gave a flap of its wings and headed straight towards the designated area, freezing wind swirling from its body with every wing-stroke.

Touching down on the snowy ground, the girl swiftly slid off her legendary and watched in amusement as the bird did an imitation of a plank in the snow, grinding its face into the soft material. _Oh, thank Ho-oh that it's so cold! _It chirped happily, tail feathers sweeping from side to side. _I felt like I was going to melt! I swear, Johto is the hottest region I've ever been to!_

Chuckling at this, the brunette beside the bird took a seat beside it, sweeping away the drops of moisture that had been melted down from the white flakes. Taking out a handkerchief, she dabbed it on her forehead and then slid it back into her white gloves. "Honestly, it's like a freakin' desert, I swear!" she paused and then sighed. "Or maybe I've been hanging out at Snowpoint City for too long."

_Psh, too long? _Articuno snorted. _Please, Blue, you only spent two days there! _

"Touché," Blue giggled in return.

Hopping over to her side, Articuno puffed out its chest and then nudged her carefully with its beak. _Hey, hey, I forgot to ask, but where are we going?_

"To Silver's house in Mahogany Town, of course," she replied quietly. "I want to see him again. It's been three years, after all."

"Oh, you're visiting Silver? Well, too bad he's not there anymore."

Blue flinched as she heard an unfamiliar voice, sharply turning her head up to the sky. And, much to her surprise, she found her face to face with a green serpent, its yellow eyes glaring into hers. Atop it, a blonde-haired boy with cunning green eyes sat, his arms crossed over as a small smirk made its way across his lips. "So, you're Blue, the contractor of Articuno, am I right?"

From beside Blue, Articuno bristled. _Blue, this boy is not what he seems! There's something odd about him!_

The girl spared a quick glance at her legendary, who was sending dangerous glares at the boy and his flying serpent, wings spread out protectively. Feeling a bit confused by Articuno's words, she turned hesitantly to the blonde child. "Why would you want to know that? And how do you know about Silver?"

For a second, Blue could've sworn the eyes of the serpent went red. However, as she blinked, she saw that the eyes were golden again, proving to Blue that it was just her imagination. The boy sighed impatiently, scowling at her. "I want to know simply because," he raised a hand, "I have a message for her."

He flicked his fingers and the serpent snapped forward, teeth bared as it lunged for Blue. But, before it could even get close to the girl, Articuno slid in-between them and unleashed an Ice-Beam, sending the dragon flying backwards in shock. _Don't you _dare_ harm my contractor!_

Blue smiled at the bird, holding out her hand. Immediately, ice crystals began to pour from them, leaking out and falling to the ground, the bits shattering upon contact. Seeming startled, the boy conjured a tiny tornado in his palms which leaped back and forth, whirling as if in excitement. "I see that we're not going to be able to talk in peace. Too bad though, if you fight with me than your brother gets closer to dying with every second."

Like she had taken a mental arrow to the heart, Blue froze, the ice crystals coming to a halt. Articuno growled menacingly, but it too looked shocked, crimson eyes wide. _W-What?_

"Oh, I see you still haven't figure it out yet," the boy laughed arrogantly as he saw her stunned face. "Well, let me just say this…your brother is being held captive by yours truly."

"You're lying," Blue snapped, pulling out her glove as she released another flood of ice crystals. "Silver would never allow himself to be captured by another!"

"You can say that, but...," he grabbed a photo from a pocket in his odd green shirt and tossed it to her. "Here, take a look!"

Articuno snatched the paper from the air and handed it to Blue, its expression remaining with that same angry look. Taking the photo from her legendary, the brunette scanned it briefly before letting out a loud gasp and nearly dropping the document. "T-This, can't be!" she mumbled as she looked at it again.

On the photo, a red-haired boy sat in a dark room, glaring up defiantly. Multiple wounds were plastered across his body, caked with blood, and it was hard not to notice that his black coat and pants were all torn up in scratches, ripped all over the place. His red hair was a mess, as if he hadn't combed it in days, and the black gloves he normally wore were missing from his hands as they became clenched into fists.

"S-Silver!" Blue cried out in horror, staring at the boy in shock. She turned her head up to glare at the boy. "What the hell have you done with my brother?"

"Oh, nothing much, just a few needed treatments here and there," he replied dismissively.

"You bastard!" Blue flung a ball of ice at him, but his serpent easily maneuvered out of the way, hissing in annoyance.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," the boy growled. "Or do we want Silver to suffer a horrible death?"

"You wouldn't!

"Don't worry, I won't…if you come to Giant Chasm."

"But that's all the way in Unova!"

"Precisely," he sneered. "But you don't have to come. I'm sure Silver won't mind if you just up and _abandon_ him."

"I would never abandon my brother!" she snarled, her hair whipping back and forth as Articuno took to the air, sending up clouds of snow.

"Prove it," the boy waved to his legendary and took to the air. "If you truly want to save your brother, you _will _come to Giant Chasm. Trust me, you'll have fun once the rest of the party shows up."

"Party?"

"Ah, right, I still haven't introduced myself," he leaned forward, grinning mockingly. "My name's Emerald and I'm the contractor of Rayquaza. Oh, and...I'm also the one responsible for your brother being ratted out."

Eyes turning cold, she let shards of frozen water run from her hands, eventually forming into a sword of ice. Equipping it into her hands, she pointed at the boy. "Why are you doing this?" she shouted, pointing her weapon at him.

He turned to her. "I'm doing this for a better world," he hissed, tapping Rayquaza on the head. WIth a ferocious roar that could easily rival the cries of a Loudred, the sky serpent took off at a high speed, disappearing within just a few seconds.

Blue watched him go, standing still for a few seconds, before she collapsed to her feet, shuddering violently. Articuno marched up to her, nuzzling her shoulder softly. _I'm sorry, _it murmured. _I'm sorry I didn't realize this earlier. I should've been able to keep track of Silver's presence so I should've been able to sense he was in trouble._

"No," she shook her head, tears sliding down from her eyes. "It's my fault. I haven't been visiting him at all in these past three years. Maybe if I had just a week ago…then maybe he wouldn't be held hostage."

She went silent as more tears fell, looking almost broken as Articuno wrapped its tail feathers around her. After a few moments, Blue wiped the clear-through drops away and turned to her legendary with a grateful look. The bird sighed. _So, what do we do now?_ it asked her.

"We…go to Giant Chasm."

_Are you serious? It could be a trap!_

"Trap or not, that doesn't mean I should just abandon my brother in his time of need!" she got up shakily and approached the bird.

Articuno frowned but said nothing as she climbed on, opening its wings and taking flight into the air. Blue ran her fingers through its feathers, her mind in turmoil. Fury and sorrow were rushing through her, as well as a feeling of hatred that was slowly consuming her.

"Let's find Silver," she muttered, ignoring the sudden emotion of deja vu that was rushing through her.

000ooo000

Meanwhile, somewhere in time and space, a girl was bundled in darkness. Cloaked in the eternal black, she found herself floating up and down, side to side, as her conscious and senses were just barely kept awake. Though she could open her eyes, she still felt herself drowned by the darkness, no light bothering to shine and give her a hint of hope in this pitch-black and desolate space. Not to mention, she couldn't feel the wounds that were etched across her body, which was strange considering the fact that they were bleeding heavily.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

The sound of footsteps, and she jerked her head up from her fetal position. Golden eyes searched desperately through the darkness for the source of the sound, but she still found herself blind and unable to do anything as she felt the presence come closer.

"It seems like this is checkmate for you, my dear," a male voice purred.

She snapped her head up. "Y-You!" she growled, although it sounded more like a hoarse whisper after the unknown amount of time she spent in silence.

"My, I'm offended, you don't even know my own name!" the same voice responded in a disgusted sneer. "Well, it doesn't really matter anymore since, now that you're stuck here, your powers are cut off from the other world.

Her senses began to dwindle, and she found herself oddly not as concerned by those words. "You mean-?"

"Exactly. This's your end. Guardian."

And Yellow went to sleep.

**ooo000ooo**

**Replies:**

**MagmaLava-Oops, sorry, it's so hard to tell on the internet ;W; but I fixed that so it should be fine…**

**BoxAuthor88-Thanks! Here's your little update, XD. Hope you liked it~**

**NecropolisZero-I promise it'll get a lot more interesting as things go along…**

**sapphire53-well, unfortunately, you only get to know the legendaries of five people, I believe, so far in this chapter, but you'll get to see more in the next chapter!**

**Yaaay! Plot all over the board! And then there's even more to come (-insert head desk here-)**

**Quite a few contractors were introduced, even if some were only briefly mentioned (*cough*Platinium*cough*). **

**Oh noes, Emerald is evil! Quick, hide all your Pokemon plashes while you can before he attacks! (Sorry, I had to, XD). But, on a more serious note, Silver's whole situation is kind of sad in this story because of-**_***censored for spoiler reasons***_

**And yes, some of the contractors **_**will**_** know each other, like Red does with Yellow or Blue with Silver. However, most of them will end up only knowing vaguely each other, only able to tell them apart from normal folk with the help of their legendary Pokemon.**

**I can't wait for the next chapter though, since it contains my top two favorite DexHolders: Gold and Crystal (which is actually kind of funny in a way, since I'm a big Mangaquest shipper).**

**Expect more plot next time! (If I don't procrastinate first, damn Nuzlocke forums! There are just so many good Nuzlockes to read!)**

**Review~**


	3. Dark Stone, Light Shrine

**Chapter Two - Dark Stone, Light Shrine**

"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have cheated at pool!"

A boy wearing a golden cap shouted the words as he madly dashed through one of the many alleyways of Goldenrod, rolling up his sleeve as he was pursued by countless men in black. Security workers for the local Goldenrod Game Corner. Behind them, Pokemon of many levels followed at their heels, ranging from clumsy Bidoof to highly defensive Tyranitar. All of which were chasing after him, a simple boy who had forced the slot machines to give him a jackpot every time he played. Okay, so maybe he wasn't _exactly_ a normal boy. Pulling up his sleeve, he brushed his thumb against the rainbow flame that etched itself onto his wrist. _Ho-oh, you need to come now!_

An impatient voice answered him in an irritated tone. _Did you cheat at another Game Corner, Gold?_

_Um, maybe?_ He grinned sheepishly as he sharply turned around a corner, a bag full of cash slung over his shoulder while the cries of "cheater!" and "thief!" followed him. Grinning mischievously, he whipped out a skateboard and pool cue, propelling himself forward to gain a little more space between him and the people who were chasing after him.

Then, out of nowhere, a large majestic phoenix dipped down beside him, its red eyes locking with his and holding an obvious "you-are-so-dead" look to them. Ignoring the expression on his legendary's face, the contractor did a flip and landed on Ho-oh's neck, ignoring the startled looks of his pursuers as they caught sight of the bird.

"He's got a damn legendary Pokemon!" one of the workers snarled, pulling out a Pokeball. "But it doesn't matter to us, that punk's got our money! Pidgeot, get that thief!"

Materializing from thin air, a cream and brown bird showed itself to the crowd as it took after Gold at an alarming speed, soon followed by many other flying Pokemon like Crobat, Fearow, Dragonite, etc. However, the boy was un-naturally calm as his flight took to the air, easily weaving around the many Gusts and Whirlwinds thrown at them, his pool cue deflecting any other attempts at knocking him or his money off.

_Honestly, Gold? _Ho-oh growled in annoyance as he torched a Unfezant with Fire Blast. _You chose to mess with the mafia?_

"Hey, I didn't know the Goldenrod Game Corner was owned by criminals!" he whined in response to the rhetorical question.

_Sure you didn't, _Ho-oh swooped downwards as a spare Ice Beam came swirling from a stray Swanna. The phoenix responded with a quick Ancientpower, swiftly knocking down about 1/26th of their pursuers as they continued to gain speed. _This might take a bit for me to outspeed them, they're un-naturally fast._

Gold frowned at that, crossing his arms. "Just blast them with Flamethrower."

_I could do that…except there are also Aerodactyls and Swanna's to mess with as well, and I'm pretty sure that I don't won't to suffer from a Rock Slide or Bubblebeam attack. _

"Ah, true," he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

They continued to try and out speed the criminals, but their flight was constantly in turmoil with the many attacks tossed at them. Though Ho-oh was an expert at dodging these types of attacks (after all, he _is_ the legendary of the most reckless contractor known to mankind), even the bird was having trouble with the many attacks tossed at them second after second. And, it was only a matter of time before something hit them.

And, as luck would have it, a stray rock from an Archeops's Ancientpower was flung into Ho-oh's left wing, effectively injuring him enough to inflict significant damage on Ho-oh's flying abilities. _Damn it!_ Ho-oh spat, crimson eyes glancing at its contractor with unease. _Gold, we're gonna have to make a crash-landing._

"B-But where?" the boy peeked over the phoenix's body and to the ground, golden eyes wide with horror as he realized just where they were. "Surely you wouldn't try and land in the Ghost Forest?" he asked, gaze sweeping over the endless clumps of dark green trees that stood like silent statues below.

_We might have no choice in the manner, _Ho-oh responded bitterly.

"We can't! Anyone who goes there dies! There has never been a single person surviving through that forest, and I don't want to die at such a young age!" Gold was panicking now, his hands waving back and forth as he tried to urge his Pokemon to keep going. "We _have_ to land somewhere else!"

_We won't make it if I go any farther! _Ho-oh argued furiously. _Besides, it seems like we're safe from our pursuers._

Glancing over his shoulder, Gold was surprised to find that his legendary's words were right as the Goldenrod mafia began to turn around and flee, shouting fearfully among themselves as they disappeared rapidly out of sight. _One problem solved but…_He glanced at the forest and the ominous purple mist that shrouded the area, warning them to turn back. _I don't wanna die!_

However, there was nothing he could do as Ho-oh began to lose altitude, his crippled wing no longer working anymore as he spiraled downwards, embers peeling off his feathers as hr crashed down into the forest.

Branches, twigs, leaves, the claws of shocked and hostile Pokemon, all of these combined didn't seem to matter to Gold as his bird plunged into the forest, wings being ripped by the many obstacles on the way down. Rather, the only concerned him was Ho-oh's rapidly fading conscious and his own pounding heart as they fell, and fell, and fell. _We're going to die by the forest's wrath, aren't we? _Gold thought in horror as his body flailed uselessly in midair.

Seconds later, a pine tree branch hit him in the face, and he lost all feelings of awareness.

000ooo000

Gold didn't know how much time had passed since he had been knocked out, but he was pretty sure that it had been a long time. After all, why else would the moon be out when he last remembered being awake around midday?

The boy groggily blinked his eyes multiple times before he tried to sit up in order to look at his surroundings. But that was a bad idea.

At once, burning flames ripped through his body, searing at his arms, head, neck, chest, legs, and feet as he tried to move around, forcing the boy to utter a long groan of pain as he stayed in place. "What happened?" he asked himself rhetorically, his hand slowly combing through his messy back hair as he began picking out the many leaves and twigs threaded within. "Why am I here, whatever happened to Ho-oh?"

Gold snapped his head to the left. And, it was a little bit too quickly, judging by the quick snap of pain that bit at his neck. Clenching his fists at the agony, he looked to both of his sides in shock as he noticed that Ho-oh and his bag of cash were gone, vanished as if they had never existed at all. However, most of his worries were directed towards the cash, as he was pretty reassured that Ho-oh would be able to survive on his own. He glanced around for the bag of cash but, upon finding none, frowned in frustration.

"If I don't retrieve that bag of money soon, Silver will have my head," Gold tried to force his body to stand up, but was promptly rejected as another wave of torment washed through him, sending his brain into a fit of aching.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a crystal-clear voice laughed, and Gold winced at how impossibly loud it was. "Oops, should I speak in a more quieter voice?"

He nodded, groaning as the person with the strong voice stepped forward. It was a girl, roughly his age, and she was smiling unsurely at him, light blue eyes glowing as she held up a roll of bandages. She was wearing a white lab coat that went to her hips, a pink shirt, and golden shorts, her hair tied into two pigtails that seemed to defy gravity. She was a girl he had never seen before, and he briefly wondered if she was an outsider, seeing that her cloths were kind of weird for the time and age (because, after all, only _scientists_ wore lab coats).

Gold glanced at the at the girl unsurely, a bit baffled as to why she was suddenly in front of him, now on her knees as she began to unroll the bandages in her hand. "This might hurt," she murmured abruptly as she pulled on one of his arms a bit too roughly, forcing him to flinch and yank back his hand in shock.

The girl looked at him in surprise. "I told you that it would hurt," she murmured softly. "Now, hold out that arm so that I can rewrap your wounds."

_Wounds, what wounds? _Gold scowled at the stranger as she pulled out his arm, gingerly rolling the left sleeve of his hoodie up and revealing white cloth that was wrapped around his skin, dots of red showing through the surface. Surprised by this, Gold narrowed his eyes and glanced up to see that, through the spread of closely-knit trees, there was a huge gap that let sunlight stream down. _That must've been where I fell down from from, _he thought slowly as the girl begin to wrap her pieces of white straps around his arm, applying pressure in the gentlest way so not as to cause Gold to flinch again.

"Who are you?" were the first words he spoke to her.

She looked up in surprise, as if she had expected him to know her name. "Crystal," she replied softly. "It's Crystal."

"That's such a pretty name for a pretty girl," he mused dreamily, his golden eyes wandering over to hers as he tried one of his signature flirty remarks. "I'm Gold."

Crystal gave no hint of reaction to his flirt as she continued wrapping, but by the way her fingers fumbled around with the cloth, Gold mentally beamed in pride, acknowledging the fact that he had at least made her embarrassed. Grinning slyly at her, he was promptly disappointed when she made no further sign of emotion, her hands steadying as she bandaged up his right arm. For a second, however, as she rolled up his sleeve and slid her gaze over his wrist, she made a slight pause of hesitance before quickly continuing on with her task, a look of concern touching her face. _She must've seen my mark, _he decided nonchalantly, trusting that she'd just deem it as a simple tattoo and nothing else.

With a huff as she finished her wrapping, Crystal tied a knot and let her gaze scrutinize her work before allowing his arm to drop to his side. "That's another one done," she sighed before glancing at Gold, her blue eyes capturing his name-sake ones.

In that single moment of eye contact, Gold felt his flutter uncontrollably, heart pulsing madly inside his chest for no real reason. The funny feeling gnawed at him as she gave a nervous smile, and it didn't help ease the alien emotion when Crystal leaned forward a bit too closely to his neck, her face unusually close as she took away the bandages from around his neck. Half-tempted to close the distance between them with a kiss, Gold held back reluctantly as she gave him a stern glare, as if sensing his intentions. Gold couldn't stop himself from smiling though as she unwrapped his bandages and quickly replacing them, her fingers sliding over his skin as she messed with the cloth.

"Done!" she declared after a few seconds, backing away and leaving Gold with a strange empty feeling in his stomach. "How does that feel?"

"Good," he replied slowly, his head still throbbing.

Crystal nodded happily at that statement, before her mood rapidly changed into a dangerous one, eyes narrowing and hands on hips as she glowered at the boy. "_Now,_ what are you doing in my forest? And why haven't you turned to stone yet?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, absorbing her words slowly, before scrambling backwards in shock. "W-W-Woah, what do you mean by _turn to stone?_ Is that the curse that surrounds the forest, some sort of Medusa like thing?"

"Medusa?" she frowned before shaking her head 'no'. "It's not like that here. Basically, any not of pure heart who enters here will be turned to stone by the purple mist, or have you not noticed the abundant lack of wildlife lurking around here?"

_Come to think of it…, _Gold shifted his gaze around, finding quickly that her words held truth as he noticed that there were no Pokemon scurrying around, only a purple mist that glided across the forest floor ominously, carefully skirting around Gold, Crystal, and Ho-oh as it slinked about, almost as it was a real feral creature and not just some collection of water droplets. Gold watched the mist fearfully, panicking inside a little bit as a tendril reached out randomly, shooting forward to stroke Gold's skin.

Strangely, there was no feeling of pain or agony like the ones he had felt from his wounds, but a cold burning sensation that abruptly ended as the tendril retracted, slinking back into place as the rest of the mist combed the ground. That didn't stop Gold from edging closer to Crystal however, and his name-sake eyes widened at the stuff.

"You don't have to be afraid of it, you know," Crystal spoke softly. "If it deems you as a threat, then it'll react but, if it doesn't, then it'll just retract from place like that piece that touched you did."

"But…if it turns people to stone, why are we the only ones who're not affected by it?"

The blue-haired girl reached out to a patch of the mist, fingers spread out, and the purple cloud reached out imitate her, creating a hand of its own that looked like a mirror copy save for the purple color and cloudy appearance. "According to what I've heard, only the purest of hearts may live here in peace and harmony but you seem like an enigma to this rule."

He blinked at her for a second before smiling innocently. "And why would that be?"

Crystal held out two fingers and the purple mist hand mimicked her yet again. "First, you rudely crash into my forest without so much as an apology. And, second, you arrive with a huge bag of cash from nowhere, obviously indication that you're at thief, which means you should already be turned to stone."

"Okay, um, for reason one, I'm sorry and for reason two…well, I actually stole that money from the mafia so, really, it's okay."

Her eye twitched at the last reason. "How is stealing ever okay?" she snapped.

"Woah, calm down there," he waved his hands. "It's not like me and Silver were going to dance in it. We actually are planning to-"

"Silver?" she interjected, still looking pissed off at his comment about stealing.

"My best friend," he responded quickly. "Anyways, we were going to use that money for charity. You see, because there's these orphans living in constant poverty just around our home base of Violet City, and we wanted to help them out."

Crystal stared at him for a few moments, absorbing his words before sighing loudly, head in hands. "Well, I guess you're telling the truth or else you'd be turned to stone out of greed like everyone else who dared to come here."

He responded with a cheeky grin before abruptly frowning, his face gaining a serious look. "Hey, Crystal?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she looked up.

"If…everyone else here is turned to stone, where do they go? I mean, are they left in the same spot as when they were petrified?"

She shook her head. "No, me and…a friend take them to a special garden in the middle of the forest. It's a sort of 'memorial' for them, I guess, but it just shows respect for them."

Gold rubbed his chin for a bit before meeting her gaze, his eyes hardening. "Hey, can you bring me to that garden, Crys? I want to see the statues with my own eyes."

"Why?" Crystal looked puzzled at his words, but Gold subconsciously noted the hint of blush on her face after he used the nickname of 'Crys'.

"Because…someone important might be there."

Crystal seemed perplexed at his words but didn't question anything further as she stood up, gesturing for him to do so as well. He stood up slowly, wobbling a bit, and every step he took made him shake, his body swinging dangerously back and forth like some sort of pendulum. That is, until Crystal edged closer to him, silently offering her support. He thanked her with a grateful look and leaned on her shoulder awkwardly, the girl leading the way slowly as he adjusted to walking again, his thoughts all focused on the thought of seeing the petrified people.

Traversing through the forest, Gold watched in interest as the purple mist that covered their way hastily scattered back, providing them with a fresh strip of dark brown earth to walk on. Occasional beams of sunlight slanted down from small gaps in the closely-knit trees, lighting their path in the dark forest, and Gold admired the warm beams of rays as he stumbled forward. However, even as he enjoyed the warmth in the midst of the cold, that didn't excuse the arrow of pain that was still stuck in his head, cutting through him with every step. Crystal, having noticed this, stopped walking, causing him to nearly fall over. "Are you alright?" she asked. "You don't have to travel over such a long distance, y'know."

He shook his head, a bit touched at her concern for him. "No, I want to go." _I have to look for…_him.

The girl stared at him sternly. "Don't force yourself to do anything, Gold."

"Relax Super Serious Gal, I'll be fine."

"Super Serious Gal?" she looked over at him, scowling at the nickname. "What, are you giving pet names to me already?"

He smiled cheekily in return, leaning even harder on her shoulder, much to her annoyance as she stumbled to the right. "Stop that," she muttered.

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, leaning even harder towards her.

"Jerk," she hissed.

"Super Serious Gal," he retorted.

"My name's Crystal and you know it."

"Okay…_Crys._"

"Crystal!"

"President of Club Serious!"

"It's Crystal, dammit!"

"Really? Hi then, Crystal Dammit."

The girl gave a look of annoyance, crossing her arms. "Clever," she growled.

"I know right?" he cheekily responded, his hand sliding 'accidentally' against hers.

She looked away, muttering something unintelligible underneath her breath. Yet, even as she turned most of her face away from Gold in an attempt to look irritated, the boy couldn't help but spot the glistening tears that threatened to drip down from the corner of her eyes. _Is she…going to cry? _he asked himself, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. "Are you alright?" he asked, internally panicking.

However, when she turned to him, her eyes were as wet as normal, and her expression held a look of confusion. "Hmm, what?"

"A-Ah, sorry, it's just that, for a second, you looked like you were crying!"

Crystal frowned. "Do you have a fever or something?"

He sighed. "Never mind, let's just continue walking."

They both fell silent as their shoes hit the ground, passing by the many trees and undergrowth that lingered in the forest as the purple mist continued to part from their path. It was a peaceful and quiet journey for Gold and Crystal yet, somehow, Gold found himself constantly looking into red eyes from among the darkness, and the feeling of him being followed never seemed to leave as he continued leaning onto Crystal and stepping forward.

000ooo000

"We're here."

Crystal's voice rang loudly in the large clearing as they arrived at a small garden full of stone statues, the entrance guarded by a steel gate and the rest was obscured by four tall stone walls. From the outside, Gold could tell that the place was ancient just by the looks of it. Vines the width of a Persian crawled up the place, piercing through the stone to produce cracks that spiraled in many directions. Dark green moss spread across the middle, glowing a bit ominously against the misty purple background, sending the boy slight chills. The walls were also weathered down, the surface obviously eroded by constant batterings of water and gusts of wind, and Gold found it amazing that it was even here in front of him, seeing that it had clearly built more then a few years ago.

With a grunt of displeasure, the girl in front of him moved the gate with her own hands, swinging it open with ease even if it looked much more heavier than she made it out to be. Beckoning to him with a small wave of her hand, Crystal solemnly entered the garden and Gold soon followed after her, a bit shocked by what came next.

Stone statues flooded his eyes as he walked in, all twisted into disgusted or furious positions as their mouths hung open, lips curled up into a sneer as they glared at nothing. They were all muscular and at the age of adults, towering over the pair as their narrowed eyes spat silent threats of violence. Gold might've found it a bit frightening had the many flowers rooted at their feet not ruined the sight, providing a colorful background that seemed _very_ out of place. Tulips, roses, lilies, and even daisies frolicked at the feet of the men, along with shoots of colorful green grass that danced ominously in the garden.

"This's such a strange place, isn't it?" Crystal asked softly.

"Yeah, it is," Gold began to observe each and every one of the men, moving from statue to statue and shifting his gaze over them before continuing on. "I mean, why are there flowers in a place full of creepy people?"

"I don't really know," she admitted sheepishly, "but, for some reason, this's the only place not infiltrated by the purple mist, making it a perfect spot for plants to grow abundantly, I guess."

Gold continued looking before suddenly coming to a stop in front of a certain statue, his eyes staring into dark gray ones with frightening surprise. For a few moments, he stood, stunned and speechless as he observed the statue. It was, like any of the others, in the shape of a man roughly thirty years old and, from the clothing style, Gold assumed he had been petrified only five years ago. He was wearing a hoodie like Gold's only older and more ragged-looking while, atop his head, was a pair of goggles that didn't seem to lessen the effect of his messy bangs that dropped over his contemptuous eyes.

A sound of footsteps and Gold barely registered that Crystal was beside him, gazing up at the statue in wonder. "Was this man…your father?" she murmured the question quietly, and Gold could swear that she was looking at him in touching concern from out of the corner of her eyes.

He nodded, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to burst from his eyes. "Yes…he is or, at least, he _was,_" Gold muttered the last word bitterly before turning to her. "You see, just five years ago, when I was 10, my father and mother began fighting with each other over the issue of money because…well, he was a gambler. He would always spend his paychecks on those stupid casino machines, too heartless to care about the sake of his own family, who were actually the ones in desperate need of it.

"So, eventually, my mom and dad got into a very violent…fight, and he just up and walked out on us, taking the rest of our savings without another word and leaving us in poverty. Well, until my mom got a job with Professor Oak, working as a Pokemon researcher. But, when our father left, it crushed her entirely and…it crushed _me_, his only son. We both became shells of our real selves to the point where depression was the best thing possible out of any day and it was…it was horrible. Not only did I lose memories of my father during that time period, but I also lost sight of who he used to be, before he turned into such a cruel man."

He turned to her, taking in a deep breath before continuing without a doubt. "Then, I heard from a police officer one day that my father had disappeared into the Ghost Forest, along with a bunch of bandits, but had never come out even after a month of quarantine within the forest. And, despite several searches, no one was able to find them because anyone who went in…never came out. Ever since I heard that, I've always wanted to come find my father, to just see his face once again no matter how cruel he was before, but I was scared. Scared that, just like him, I'd wind up missing, and become nothing more than an imaginary person that magically 'vanished' in some fairy tale."

"But you're still here," Crystal pointed out with a sad smile, grabbing his hand with her right one while brushing away tears with her left. "And, you've gotten to see your father, right? Isn't that great? Even if he was such a heartless person, it's still a family reunion!"

The boy glanced at their intertwined hands in surprise before grinning back. "Yeah, I'm glad, thanks for taking me here, Cryssie," he turned to the statue, ignoring the look of cold contempt as he observed the look hidden within the eyes, a silent expression of loneliness placed in those dark depths of gray.

Crystal scowled at the new nickname, but didn't make any comment as she, too, stared at Gold's father, her face holding obvious concern as she stared at the man. It was apparent to the boy that, from his description, Crystal clearly didn't see his father in a good light, and he didn't blame her. Even though Gold still held feelings of attachment to the man he knew as his dad, he still couldn't lie about his spiteful thoughts that lurked within.

Still, Crystal's touch reassured him, and he looked at her in wordless gratitude, temporarily forgetting about his surroundings as the girl lost herself in a daze, eyes going blank as she watched the statue. Gold was about to shake her awake, his free hand reaching out carefully, when a sudden gust of wind made him whip his head around.

_Get away from her, beast!_

Suddenly, something huge jumped over the ancient stone walls and landed elegantly on the side of the garden, roaring loudly as it snarled at Gold, crimson eyes locked onto his golden ones. Blue in color with a purple mane and white ribbons, the creature took a brief moment to participate in a stare down with the boy before charging forward without warning, a flash of bluish-white light erupting from its mouth as it ran.

"Suicune! Stop this at once!"

Without a second to adjust to anything, Crystal hopped out in front of Gold, her arms stretched out defensively before she closed her eyes.

But, that did nothing to block the blast of ice that was shooting straight for them.

000ooo000

Meanwhile, in a distant forest plentiful of life, Pokemon frolicked happily, chattering amiably among themselves as they passed by one another. There were Parasect, Furret, Ledyba, Weedle, Caterpie and even dozens of more wonderful creatures that bounded through this place known as Ilex Forest, and it was no surprise to them that the weather was sunny as usual, raining down warmth upon the many occupants. Truly, there was nothing wrong with the day as it was, allowing each and every creature to enjoy it in whatever way they wished.

That is, until the shrine started glowing.

In Ilex Forest, there was a special shrine constructed long ago by the people of the past, a shrine meant to place prosperity and wealth upon the land, as well as protection in the name of a guardian known as Celebi. Though the structure and its meaning was long lost to humanity, having been disguised by the forest many eons ago, the meaning of its importance still was passed down from parent to child among the Pokemon citizens, and the shrine was highly regarded as a sacred place for some. So, naturally, when the building began to glow a bright green color, all the Pokemon began to go into a panic.

For a young Sentret who had originally come to pray, this especially caused her to worry, as she had never seen the shrine do this before. Sure, the place always made a strange, soothing sound whenever a gust of wind blew by, but that weird noise was nothing compared to what she saw.

In front of her, the old structure stood almost ominously, the weird sound of bells singing in her head as she watched quietly, feeling the strange need to watch what was about to happen next. From around her, she could tell that the other Pokemon could also feel the strange disturbance and sense of importance in the air, and they all tensed as their attention became pinpointed onto their little sacred shrine.

Then, suddenly, an explosion of light appeared from nowhere, blinding everyone and forcing them to hastily look away to avoid damage to their eyes. Even the little Sentret, normally so curious to go against her instincts, glanced away from the dancing lights, Butterfree dancing in her stomach. But, as the light ended, she returned her attention to the shrine and was promptly shocked by the sight of a girl in odd clothing drenched in red, her arms holding a green fairy close to her chest.

Upon closer observation, the Sentret noticed with interest that the girl was crying, her tears mingling with blood as she wept loudly, sobbing as her shoulders shook and shuddered. The fairy in her arms, whom she guessed from her parent's stories was Celebi, glanced up in worry at the girl, blue eyes expressing deep concern as it reached up to touch her face.

_Lyra, _a voice popped into the Sentret's hand, and her ears twitched as she realized it was from the fairy. _Lyra, we can't stay here. You're bleeding badly and you're not going to make it much longer if you just sit here crying. We have to save Silver, right?_

Sentret perked her ears with interest at the name of _Silver,_ wondering briefly who the person could be and what his or her affiliation was with this human called _Lyra_, whoever she was,

The girl looked up and rubbed at her eyes, her body swinging from side to side as if she was getting dizzy. "Silver," she mumbled the name in such a bitter tone, and she wept more tears. "Silver, Silver, Silver…"

Celebi sighed, struggling out of her grasp and patting her head as its wings fluttered loudly. _Lyra, we need to get moving. Silver wouldn't want you to die right now, would he?_

Lyra shook her head slowly, repeating the name of Silver in a hushed voice as she looked at the ground, blood flowing from the multiple cuts on her skin and staining her bright pink and blue clothes with crimson. To the Sentret, it seemed as if she was traumatized, and from the constant shuddering of the girl's body along with the sobs of despair, it seemed that her guess was right.

_Come on, girl, snap out of it!_ Celebi began nudging Lyra onto her feet, pressing her hands into the girl's clothing. _You don't want Silver to die again, right?_

At those words, Lyra shook her head rapidly before making an attempt to stand, her figure wobbling unsteadily as she repeated her chant again and again. "Silver, Silver, Silver, Silver."

With her feet dragging into the ground, the human girl disappearing through the trees in the forest, leaving behind a bunch of perplexed Pokemon as the fairy urged her on, blue eyes shining in worry. However, when the girl disappeared into the darkness, Celebi paused just at the edge of their intent gazes, giving the slightest dip of its head. _Can you guys protect my shrine for me, please? _she asked, her antennae waving desperately.

For a few seconds, everyone stood in stunned silence, unsure of how to answer. But, Sentret wasted no time to step forward, eagerly waving a paw to the legendary as she smiled determinedly. _I'll take care of it for you!_ she called out, her long tail sweeping from side to side. _We all will, guardian of the forest!_

A Hoothoot sleepily joined in, standing on one foot as he cast his red eyes out towards the fairy. _We'll take care of it, guardian, _he yawned loudly. _But promise us that you'll take care of that girl, alright? It's clear that she needs your help now._

_Not just my help, _Celebi shook her head as if to contradict the words. _She's going to need the help of not only me, but of the contractors as well. Lyra won't be able to stand alone. _

And, with those ominous words, Celebi flitted away without so much as a 'good-bye', filling the air with a sense of noble sacrifice as all the Pokemon began to gather around the shrine in a protective manner.

Sentret frowned as she hesitantly began to join the group, her brain trying to comprehend what she had just seen.

_Something terrible has happened, _she mused to herself, _and that something might cause a break between the lines of justice and the lines of evil._

With a defiant look, she turned around to join her friends, wondering if Celebi's words held more than a literal truth to them.

**ooo000ooo**

**Sooooo, yes, Lyra will actually be a contractor in this story because she's such an interesting figure in the fandom. Plus, she's already needed in the plot. I wonder why she keeps repeating the name of "Silver" over and over again, whoever that may be….(jk, we all know who he is~)**

**Also, Gold's father…kind of sad, isn't it? He was originally the good kind of father, the one everyone would look up to, until he got addicted to those casinos and began to spend money like crazy, no longer caring for his family. Poor Gold ;_;**

**Oh! And if you noticed, the legendaries now have genders, thanks to the suggestion of Skyciale (because, honestly, it's annoying to repeatedly call each legendary an 'it' over and over -.-).**

**Not much plot went on here, besides from Lyra's part, of course (even if it's really vague right now).**

**That Furret…I'm gonna call her Belle, even if she never appears again (poor Belle ;W;).**

**Now, for replies:**

**Skyciale: Their personalities are hard to write though, I swear! I mean, Green is too…cold for my tastes and Red…ugh, I don't even know him well enough. Oh, and I'm gonna take your advice and add genders from these chapters on because, like I said, using the same word over and over is just…no, XD**

**sapphire53-Emerald? Evil? Yeah, it totally happened. And as for Yellow's fate…that has to be kept a surprise, of course!**

**Remepie-There will be some Specialshipping later on, believe me ^w^**

**BoxAuthor88-I like how a lot of people like how I did that character's personalities, I honestly believed I sucked at them (especially for Red) but I'm happy to see people liked how I wrote them.**

**The next chapter may or may not be able to come out next week but…high school is about to start and I still have summer homework to finish (does anyone else get summer homework, just wondering?). We're supposed to do a 5-8 minute report on some subject we read about over our three month vacation, but we got almost no explanation on **_**how **_**to do it (sure, we got a packet outlining some of the project, but as to what books to choose, what's being looked for in the assignment, etc, it's all very vague…-.-)**

**Review too, on your way out! But just don't hit that eject button, or you might find yourself in a pit full of deadly rattlesnakes! But that review button doesn't seem quite so bad, so why not choose that instead?**


	4. Castle of Ice

**Chapter Three - Castle of Ice**

"We should expand the land!"

"No, the sea!"

"The Land!"

"The Sea!"

In a cave filled to the brim with white mist, a boy and a girl were arguing furiously while their individual beasts sat in pools of water and magma. They were both known as Ruby and Sapphire, the guardians of Sootopolis City and contractors to Groudon and Kyogre respectively.

"_Ruby,_ the sea's more important!" the girl tossed her hands up into the air, baring her teeth as she sat at the edge of the pool, her feet splashing in the water. "After all, _everythin' _depends on water to survive!"

Ruby adjusted his white cap and began to knit with a purple ball of yawn, sitting in a relaxed posture atop a pillar of hardened lava. "If you had any brains at all, then you'd know that it's _land_ that people rely on more. Everything we depend on, food, shelter, animals, oxygen, it all needs land to reproduce. If there were no land, then everyone would be drowning with water in their lungs."

The brunette scowled, hands on hips. "If you're such a brainiac, then maybe you'd know that our bodies are made out of ninety-nine percent water!"

"It's sixty to seventy-five percent, genius," Ruby huffed, looping a thread through a hole. _And if you actually bothered to study then you'd know that._

"Whatever!" Sapphire crossed her arms and scowled.

_Funny, aren't they? _Groudon asked good-naturedly to his counterpart as the beast lifted a claw out of the magma, molten rock dripping down his claws. _Always arguing like this?_

_I suppose, _Kyogre hissed, clearly not fond of being spoken to. She shifted slowly from side to side, careful to avoid her contractor as the girl swam towards her. _But it's only natural. _

Ruby raised an eyebrow at the giant whale but didn't bother to question her, clearly knowing the full meaning behind it. Ever since he was invited to be a contractor, he had come in knowing that whoever ended up as the contractor of Kyogre would immediately be his sworn enemy, no matter what the relationship was before. Had it been his mom, a loving friend, or a friendly acquaintance, the result was always the same for the two contractors; an eternal rivalry that would no doubt deepen any feelings of hatred or spite that they might've shared before. It was like a curse, really, and Ruby had always vowed to go against it in the hopes that he could prove that the two contractors didn't _always_ have to act like sworn enemies. However, of course, Sapphire's insistence on mocking him didn't really seem to help his goal.

"Hey, are ya even listenin' Prissy Boy!?"

He glanced over the edge of his pillar to see Sapphire standing on the strip of land that separated them, a hand raised to the boy in fury as she growled like a feral beast. He smiled smugly when he realized she didn't want to bother jumping over a pool of magma to get to him like she usually did. "Wipe that stupid smirk off of your face right now or I'll have to do it for ya!"

Ruby waved a hand to her mockingly. "I'm sorry, what was that? Oh, you wanted to get my attention? Well, sure, just come over and sit down atop my pillar and we can have a chat," he paused as she began to simmer before continuing on. "Oh, right, you _can't. _I'm sorry, I forgot that your monkey skills won't allow you to walk on magma."

"Why, you little brat!" Sapphire stomped her foot onto the ground, eyes narrowing in frustration as she realized that he was right. "Come down here at once and fight like a man!"

"And why should I?" he sneered in response, feeling his patience about to snap as she made a series of furious comments.

"Because I've finally decided on what I want to do! I wanna prove to you that I'm the best one in this cave and not just some other contractor that happened to be forced to work with you!" she held out her fists. "So come down and fight, pretty boy!"

Ruby tipped his hat up and sighed, turning to Groudon as he rubbed his thumb against the blue orb symbol placed right onto his wrist, activating his telepathy link. Though most contractors were able to communicate with their legendaries directly through a simple focusing of the mind, Ruby was still a newbie in the ranks and still relied on his contractor symbol to help him stabilize his powers. _She's really annoying, isn't she? _the boy asked with a hint of amusement.

_Nah, she's just like Kyogre, all grumpy and ready to burst with energy, _his legendary responded calmly, sinking into the lava and letting golden eyes shine eerily in the white mist. _Personally, I'd rather just be friends rather than act like an irritating thistle._

_Agreed, _Ruby chuckled to himself.

"Stop laughin' like a fool and get down here!"

"I'm sorry, I'd rather not get my clothes dirtier than necessary," he waved a hand dismissively. "Because getting my clothes dirty would mean-"

_Krrrrsssh!_

Ruby's voice came to a halt as both he and Sapphire turned to the source of the sound, both now alert and tense. _That definitely sounded like an explosion, _Ruby flinched as the sound of people screaming were heard, and he slid off his pillar and onto the ground with a little help from Groudon.

"That wasn't…did Sootopolis just get attacked by a bomb?" Sapphire's usually hyper voice took an unusual quiet turn as she faced him, her sense of duty flaring deeply in her blue eyes. "We've gotta help them, prissy boy!"

He nodded, shoving aside the thought of getting his clothes dirty and instead focusing on his duty as the protector of Sootopolis. Nodding in goodbye to Groudon, the boy took off through the Cave of Origin entrance tunnel, Sapphire at his side.

Pushing through the exit (and nearly tripping Sapphire in the process), they were both flooded with an unexpected sight.

Everywhere they looked, disaster was in sight, and the panicked screams of Sootopolis citizens added even more to the effect. Avalanches of rocks rushed down and into the quiet lake in the middle, creating huge ripples that threatened to drown anything in its path. Metal objects were levitating just above the surface, hanging ominously above the lake as it glowed with a silvery light. A thin trail of ice stretched across the walls of Sootopolis, sparkling in the warm sunlight as drips of water slid down into the lake.

"What happened 'ere?" Sapphire asked in shock as she came to his side. "Are we being attacked by contractors?"

_Maybe, it definitely seems like the work of a legendary. _Ruby held out a hand to unleash a huge flame of fire that licked eagerly at the air, begging to be set loose. It took all his concentration just to let it sit in his hand, taming it with his mind. He was still not a professional at being a contractor, after all. However, Sapphire seemed un-naturally talented as she raised her hands and and instantly calmed the lake waters, settling it back into its normal position before whipping around to look behind her. Confused by her actions, Ruby followed her lead, and was promptly startled to see three golems standing ominously at the entrance of the Cave of Origin, looking at the duo with cold, calculating eyes. Each was coated in either steel, rocks, or ice, and the way they were staring made Ruby think of the gargoyles he had once seen in the Kalos region.

"Ruby, what are those things?" Sapphire stared at all three of the golems, eyes sweeping over the trio with anxiety.

_Human target detected, _a steely voice hissed and Ruby immediately pinpointed it as the being with rocks for a body. _Ice, may you do the honors?_

_Ceeeertaaaaiiiiinly. _The ice body hovered in the air, cool mist curling up from its crystal-shaped feet, before hurtling forward at an astonishing speed and snatching up Sapphire before she could even utter a shout of surprise. Clasping an arm over the girl's mouth, the golem produced a web of frozen water that covered her lips and kept her from shouting out, all the while spreading out so that she eventually became a basic human popsicle, just still alive.

"S-Sapphire," Ruby stuttered the name of the rival contractor as her eyes connected with his, widening desperately as she shifted around in the cocoon of ice, shivering. He turned to the golems. "What are you doing!? She's a contractor!"

The golem of steel made a beeping sound, turning to its companions. _The human poses a slight point in the matter, _it stated unsurely. _Why are we kidnapping her?_

_To take to maaaaaaaasssssster, _the rock one stated indignantly, yellow eyes glaring at the steel one. _It is our task to bring the Kyogre girl back to the base._

Ruby stared at the trio in confusion, bewildered. "I don't understand, who is your master," his voice quickly grew furious, "and why are you taking Sapphire with you? What has she done to be trapped into ice?"

The golems faced each other before the ice one spoke. _Our master is the one who has deemed us as fit legendaries for contractors and he has promised us that he will bond us to one if we follow his orders exactly._

_And his orders were to take Kyogre girl, _the rock golem shifted forward, nodding slightly to Ice and the steel golem before glancing at a spot in the middle of the Sootopolis walls that sat beside the lake. Raising a hand, it summoned a huge boulder that flew directly over to the aforementioned wall and punctured a hole through it, much to the astonishment of everyone who happened to be watching. Even Ruby was shocked a little bit at the power of the golem, knowing full well that even a Wailord would take days to ram through the thick wall of protection.

Still, that didn't stop him from raising a hand and creating a barrier of pillars of earth that blocked the three golems from continuing further. "Let go of Sapphire!" he demanded angrily, ignoring Sapphire's looked of bewilderment as he approached the golems at a run, spires of ground popping up alongside him as his feet hit the earthy floor.

_You cannot stop us, Groudon boy, _the ice golem sighed, raising a crystal arm up. Instantly, a path of ice slid across the ground, covering his pillars and freezing the boy's feet into place. _However, if you wish to save Kyogre girl, then take both her legendary and yours to Giant Chasm, for that is where you shall find her._

Then, without another word, the steel golem punched a hole in the wall big enough for the three to pass through, sending Ruby one last glance before stepping out on the ocean and sliding across a path of ice that had previously never been there before.

Ruby watched them go, yanking a foot every once and awhile to break the ice holding him captive, but he found that he was stuck frozen in there.

"Houndoom, Ember on the boy's feet!"

Suddenly, he felt the ice around him melt and he fell backwards in surprise, looking up to see the chief of Sootopolis City glancing down at him. "Are you okay, Sootopolis guardian?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay, but….Sapphire...she's…."

"Do you wish to go after her?"

Silence. A slight hesitant pause. "Yeah, I do, but I couldn't do that. You guys need me, right? I mean, if we left, then the water Pokemon might seek to destroy the city again after knowing that you're weak once again."

"But you're not the only ones we can trust, you know. We all have Pokemon of our own too," the chief reminded him as he gestured to his Houndoom, who barked happily in response. "And I'm pretty sure that we could hold them off until you return."

However, despite the chief's words, Ruby knew that the town would still be pretty vulnerable to the water Pokemon who wished to destroy the city after having their homeland being taken over by the humans. The feud had been going on for as long as the boy could remember, and he had been a contractor only for just half that long so even he couldn't remember how long the water Pokemon of the outside world held a grudge against Sootopolis. But, there was always the fact that the other protector, who warded off the sea Pokemon in the first place, had gone missing and left a vital part of the exterior defenseless. Without her, it was possible that the water Pokemon might attack anyways, desperate to retrieve their former homeland. Even the walls Groudon set up might not be enough to hold back a pod of Wailord should the time ever come.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked hesitantly, brushing off his pants as he rose. "I mean, you know that the Pokemon of the sea will be ruthless and on a rampage, right?"

The chief rubbed his bald head before dipping his head. "We know, guardian, but we also know that that girl meant a lot to you," he gave the boy a cunning look that set Ruby stuttering.

"W-What d-do you mean?" he asked, trying to give a glare to the man but failing.

"Oh, come on, we all know you like to both bicker like an old married couple," a young girl known as the chief's daughter hopped to her father's side, an Abomasnow trotting alongside her. "It's a well-known rumor that you two will be able to get together."

"Will not!" he declared childishly as he crossed his arms. "She's an annoying brat!"

"But you want to save her, right?"

"Well…yeah, I do," he looked sideways, a concerned look crossing his face. "But I can't just leave you open and defenseless! The walls that are protecting you will fall down if I leave!"

The girl sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We know that, but we also know that Sapphire is important to her. You've done us a valiant service as a contractor, helping us whenever we needed it. Remember that time that a group of Starmie attacked? You and Sapphire were there to defend us when needed, even if you were already injured from a broken leg and Sapphire was still recovering from that spat with the former chief. Now, I believe, it's time we paid you back for your services. We want you to go after her, Ruby, and bring her back."

"B-But I couldn't-"

He was silenced when the girl and chief gave him fierce glares that clearly signaled that their decisions were final. Sighing at them, Ruby smiled. "Thanks…for this."

"No problem, Guardian Ruby! We're happy to let you go," the chief smiled gently in return, seeming not the worried in the least. "Now, leave, and find Sapphire. We'll be waiting for both of you to return."

"I, uh, thanks," the boy turned towards the entrance of the Cave of Origin, using his powers to push a few boulders away with spears of earth. "I'll just go talk to Groudon and Kyogre and see how they feel."

Ruby walked through the entrance without another word, a mixture of anger, despair, and confusion swirling around in him as he pulled up his right sleeve. Placing a thumb on his blue orb tattoo, he took in a deep breath and released a thin trail of brown-orange that seeped into the image and unlocked the gears in his mind. _I assume you've already seen everything that's happened?_

His legendary's response was somber. _I have, _he stated in a surprisingly calm voice. _And this can only mean one thing..._

Yellow eyes peeked out from behind the curtain of white fog. _This means that something very _wrong_ is going on. Not like you would care, _the whale made a snarling sound. _Did you even _try_ to save Sapphire? Or did you just hide like a bitter coward?_

Ruby narrowed his eyes at the sea beast. "If you actually _saw_ my memories than you would know that I _tried _to save her. I was just…weak."

_You're a sissy and a coward, _Kyogre growled. _Sapphire was never wrong about that._

"I know I am," the boy sighed in disbelief, much to the surprise of both of the legendaries. "I should've been able to save her." Tiny spires of rock spiraled up from the ground as he stared sullenly at the cave floor.

_I know what I can piece together from your mind so far, but would you care to explain to me about what exactly happened? _Groudon waded forward from its pool of magma, looking genuinely worried for his contractor as he provided small steps of cooled lava that led up to the giant pillar in the middle of the lake. Ruby hopped onto the first one, climbing up them step-by-step as he explained somberly just what he had recently experienced from the outside world.

_That's…a lot to take in, _Groudon muttered and a faint rumble of agreement was heard from Kyogre. _I mean, why take Sapphire? What purpose could she possibly serve towards these…'people', the Regis are talking about?_

_And why are the Regis even serving a master? _Kyogre added, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. _They've always stayed as a group of three, never taking contractors even when asked to by the Guardian. _

Groudon and Ruby looked at her in surprise. "Why haven't they ever taken contractors? Isn't it like some sort of rule that they _must_ have a contractor if the Guardian assigns one to them?"

_It's not a written rule, boy, _she gave him an irritated glance, white teeth bared. _It's merely a citation that most legendaries would jump at a chance to have. To have a contractor is not only a symbol of pride among society but a way to keep our powers in check so we don't go into fits of rage and lose ourselves - a thing that most legendaries will fear that will happen to them. However, the Regis have really never needed a 'regulator', so to say, and have always been intent on sleeping in the depths of Hoenn in order to wait for a time when they are desperately needed. But I see no need for them to stay awake now._

_Unless there is something going on that we just don't know about, _Groudon sighed thoughtfully. _It's possible that there just might be a hidden plot going on that we don't know about. I mean, we have been living in this cave for…what, five-thousand years? _He turned to Kyogre as if asking silently for confirmation.

_Actually, it's six thousand,_ she sneered. _And even a big idiot such as you should already know that by now._

_Thanks for the compliment, _the magma giant replied sarcastically before turning to Ruby. _However the fact remains that Sapphire is gone and, clearly, something isn't right about this kidnapping. Did not the Regis mention that they were targeting her, specifically? _

"Well, they _did_ call her Kyogre girl, as if her name wasn't important but her status was."

_I don't like the sound of that, _the giant leviathan lurking within the waters muttered, bubbles popping at the surface just a few feet from her head. _I mean, to ruin her name is one thing, but to outright kidnap her in front of you and then to have the courage to _ask_ you to follow them like some sort of brainless child is just absurd!_

_I agree._

_Shut up, no one asked for your opinion, _the whale snarled, red-veined "wings" creating huge ripples that tore through the lake.

Groudon snorted in response before turning to Ruby in concern as the body took a spot at the edge of the highest pillar. _So, what are we going to do? Are we going after Sapphire?_

Ruby turned his head up so swiftly that his neck was met with a jolt of shock. Rubbing his jawline in surprise, the boy met crimson eyes with golden ones. "Of course we're going! We can't just leave Sapphire to rot away in some jail! I mean…I couldn't do anything then and to just…abandon here would be an insult to our friendship."

_What friendship? _Kyogre growled in amusement._You two were always bickering and always fighting. I think the word you're searching for here is _rivalry_ not friendship._

Ruby shook his head defiantly. "She may pretend to be that way but…I know the truth. She's a lonely individual, and despite her constant _barbaric _ways of action, I _know_ that she's more than just a barbarian. She isn't just a stubborn individual set on beating me to a pulp, but a normal, everyday girl who happened to get set into the life of a contractor alongside me."

_Amiable words to a girl who wants nothing more than to beat you and your smart head into a pulp. _Kyogre snorted loudly. _But I like your honestly - unfortunately, it's the _only_ trait I admire. What's your plan?_

"To go after her, of course!"

_But wouldn't that only get us nowhere? Do you even have a _destination _in mind?_

"Giant Chasm," he stated firmly.

_Giant Chasm!? _Both legendaries stared at him in shock_. But why would the enemy choose that place of all things to hold a contractor? It's nothing but a barren, frozen wasteland!_

"But, you forget," a voice quiet and full of calm interrupted lightly, forcing the three to all glance up, "that the Frozen Castle also lies within those boundaries - a perfect spot to keep visitors hidden."

_Who is he? _Ruby wondered with shock, adjusting his hat out of his eyes to fully see their visitor.

From up above, a green-haired boy hovered in midair, held tight by an orange and blue creature that kept him afloat. Its black, beady eyes stared emotionlessly at them, staying still in a sea of bright white. A bunch of undecipherable beeps were made, and the strange apparition settled to the ground, blue and orange hands unwinding to reveal two long coils that twitched back and forth. The boy gave them all a small, and placed a hand on the creature reassuringly.

"Thanks, bud," he turned to the trio and placed his gaze onto Kyogre. "I'm sorry if I interfered with something, but Deoxys here sensed a disturbance in the air and naturally I came to investigate."

_Who are you? _Kyogre hissed, swirls of water rippling threateningly. _And what is your concern over Sootopolis?_

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" the boy asked in concern before breaking out into a small cough as they shook their heads. "My name…is Wally, and I'm the contractor of Deoxys, or this thing here," the creature made a series of buzzing sounds. "He says 'hello'."

Kyogre narrowed her eyes suspiciously while Groudon gave a good-hearted laugh. _Nice to meet you two, _he said amiably.

Ruby stared at his legendary in scolding. "Don't act so friendly now!"

_Groudon! _the giant leviathan growled._You're not supposed all goodies-goodies with a stranger!_

_But-_

"No, Kyogre and the boy are right," Wally's voice grew deadly serious as his emerald eyes locked with Groudon's. "I may be some sort of spy for this…enemy of yours, and by openly accepting me you could also be openly accepting danger into your own home."

_But you're not here to talk nonsense about accepting others…right?_

Wally nodded. "Right, I'm here to help you return your contractor back to this cave."

_But how are you going to do that, lettuce head?_

"I have a plan…"

oo00oo

Sapphire soon found her face planted into frigid ground.

It had been four hours since she had been kidnapped, and four hours since she had last seen any sign of human life. But now, as her gaze was cast around the chamber she had been placed into.

Ice. Ice was cast everywhere, making the whole entire room like some sort of gloomy scene from a dark fantasy. It glimmered in the pale light, casting her reflection about the room in thin forms that stared back at her sadly.

Everything about her spelled weakness as she stared at her self through the ice, and she found herself trembling slightly as Regice stepped outside the room of ice, creating perfectly cylinder bars of frozen water that reached up to the ceiling. Her hair was a mess, bruises were covering her whole entire skin, and the constant cold cocoon of ice encircling her body did nothing to help her true appearance. It twisted her form, manipulating it to the point where it looked like she was bending in awkward places, creating a sort of 'Z' shape in the reflection when, really, she was just curled up into a ball, cold water droplets falling onto her cheek as the ball melted.

_Bzzzt, master, Kyogre girl has been placed into her cell. _Regice called out in a clear enough voice for Sapphire to register. The ice golem shifted forward, glancing up as if looking at something out of Sapphire's view.

"Good. Did you bring her legendary as well?" a cold voice asked.

_No. Groudon boy was also with her and my brothers figured that it would only add an obstacle to our challenges should we confront him as well. Thus, we were unable to retrieve Kyogre._

"Hmm, that's a shame," a figure of a boy with red hair loomed into view as silver eyes peeked through the frozen bars. "Hello there, _girl._"

Sapphire instantly disliked the boy by the arrogant tone that carried in the last word of his sentence. He seemed not to care however as the bars lowered and he was allowed in, his gaze scrutinizing her carefully as he circled her like she was some sort of defenseless Caterpie.

"You'll be getting used to your life very soon, Kyogre girl, I'm sure-"

"It's _Sapphire,_" she snapped.

He continued on. "That you'll find life quite miserable here. This cell will not only be your prison but your home, and it will continue on until your legendary is captured, so I adjust you get quite used to it."

Sapphire glared up at him, unable to place her furious thoughts into words as he stared down at her triumphantly. "What, any last words before you rot away in this cell?"

"Go die in a hole, scumbag," she snarled, getting to her feet and dashing past him as fast as she could.

Big mistake.

Within seconds, a blast of ice caught her off-guard, taking her body and tossing it against a wall of frozen ice, huge cracks splintering down behind her as a boy with dark brown hair appeared into view, his hazel eyes regarding her coldly.

"Silver, I thought our prisoner was _not_ supposed to escape her cell," he stated to the red-haired boy, eyes not bothering to stray from Sapphire's body as pain throbbed through it.

"I'm sorry, milord," Silver growled, his voice not carrying a hint of sincerity. "But I forgot to raise the prison bars upon entering it."

"Tch, typical," the boy strolled forward, pushing rudely past Silver and over to Sapphire, forcing her chin up so that her eyes forcibly met his ones. "Look here, newcomer. My name's Black and I run this place so, you better remember it. Now, Silver, securely lock her out of my sights. I don't want her escaping again."

"Yes sir."

With a rough pushing of his hands, the boy known as Silver grabbed her by the arms and dragged her back into the cell, ignoring her cries of protest and screams of defiance as he shoved her back into the cell. "And stay in there," he spat, watching silently as spires of ice reached up to block her from the outside world. "Barbaric brat."

Those two words instantly froze her, prompting a picture of a certain white-capped boy to appear in her mind. The sentence sent Ruby's words of her "barbaric nature" hurtling through her mind, creating a confusing sensation of being lost and sad - two feelings which were alien to the brunette.

"What, did I strike a nerve?" Silver jeered, crossing his arms and scowling at her. "Ooh, do you miss Groudon boy, perhaps? Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be running after you like a dog."

"R-Ruby?" the thought of him chasing after her made her want to laugh bitterly, but she merely forced back her longings and gave the boy in front of her an unhappy frown. "Why would he even bother to chase a stupid girl like me?"

The red-haired boy gave no answer as he looked away, smirking devilishly as he presumably turned back to Black. "Am I done here? I'm starting to grow bored."

Black's voice answered back impassively. "Sure, report to the control room immediately."

"Is that an order?"

"_Silver._"

"Fine, fine."

Silver gave a slight muffled complaint but didn't bother to speak up as he walked away and out of sight. The sound of footsteps were heard and then, they were gone. Sapphire strived to glance out of the bars of her cell to see more, but they were pulled back too far to allow her to have a full look around of the direction in which the pair had disappeared from.

"Pst."

The sound of a voice and Sapphire jerked her head away from the icy bars, teeth bared. "Who's there?" she called angrily.

"No need to be alarmed," the voice sighed, and the brunette could make it out as a soft and feminine voice. _Must be a girl, _Sapphire thought as she glanced about her room for the source of the noise. "I'm a prisoner here just like you."

Slipping over the frozen floor, Sapphire scrambled over to a small hole in the wall which seemed to lead into another cell. Peeking through it dubiously, the brunette searched for another human being, but could not seem to find one because of the limited view she was given. "What do ya want from me?" the blue-eyed girl demanded.

"I'm just curious. Sapphire, was it?"

"Uh-huh," was her cold response.

"Listen, I'm also a prisoner here and, I just wanted to say this but, it's really great to have another person to talk to, y'know? It's been so lonely for the past few years."

"Years!?" Sapphire exclaimed in disbelief, pressing her face even more up against the frozen wall.

"Unfortunately, years," the voice agreed. "I, too, have been separated from my legendary. Even now, I still don't know how Reshiram is doing…"

Sapphire froze in place, the implications racing through her head as her eyes began to sting with (presumably, although she highly denied it) tears. Gripping at her goose bump covered arms, she gritted her teeth together in frustration. "B-But, that can't be! Surely you've been to the outside world in between that amount of years?"

"Nuh-uh," the female replied softly. "Our captors won't let us go free, not at all."

"B-But that's horrible! I mean, they can't keep you locked in here forever!"

"That's not the case here," the girl replied bitterly. "Especially if you're _me_."

"Me?" Sapphire echeod.

Through the small hole in the wall, a single hazel eye shined, telling of sadness and a bitter anger. "My name's White. White Kuroi. And I'm the sister to the boy you know as Black."

**0000oooo0000**

**Replies:**

**The Unknowing Herald-I'm glad you're enjoying my fanfic so far! Oh, and, don't worry, but Yellow will appear much later in the plot :D The story **_**does**_** kind of center around her, after all.**

**Tomboy15103-Damn, I forgot about those guys (oh, and, the Johto guy is Will). It kind of slipped my mind while typing, XD, so I hope you'll forgive that slight mistake.**

**AmeYuuki-Nope, not discontinued~ Well, Raikou and Entei won't really make major appearances themselves, it's only Suicune who really gets a major role. But there will be mentionings of Entei's former contractor later on.**

**MagmaLava-personally, I'm surprised that I can even last this long on chapters (I mean, especially this one, since I **_**despise**_** writing Sapphire's and Ruby's characters, which is why it got a tiny bit rushed at the end).**

**Ame no Kagaseo-Yep, even if we don't know them, surely all of the protagonists have dads (even if their moms are the only ones who seem to be around to support them). I mean, we know about Norman and Birch, but who are the other 11 dads missing in action? I wonder…**

**sapphire53-Geez, that's a lot more homework than I had. But, at least you didn't have to stand up in front of a whole class of strangers to give a speech to (especially if you have no friends in that class).**

**Ugh, do you know how much I **_**hate**_** to write in Sapphire's and Ruby's PoV's? Though I like them in their general state of being, whenever I write the two I have a constant need to set them spitting at the other, bickering to no end (even though the whole love-bickering thing is **_**sometimes **_**a part of their individual personalities, I can't help but make it their whole **_**entire**_** personality sometimes, ugh).**

**And that wasn't the only thing that divided my attention. Between high school, math, biology, limited free time and little to no motivation on how to write this chapter. So, sorry if it's a bit rushed at the end but, high school sucks (and I think all of us high schoolers can agree, right?).**

**Oh and, if you haven't already, go and check out my other story, A Tragic Tale of Heart and Soul! It's about our famous Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh DexHolders coming together in school made specifically for Pokemon fans. But, just as they begin to adjust to the new curricular and classmates, something…odd happens, and it plunges all four into game that may prove that not **_**everyone **_**is innocent. Especially when certain people grow to develop personalities unfit for them. (Shameless advertising is shameless).**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter so, please, review it after you're done reading!**


End file.
